Hi, I’m Shawn Bolz from Bolz Ministries, and this is God Today. I am so excited because one of my young friends moved to Los Angeles to become an actor. And it was really interesting. He heard from God as a child and told his parents, “I feel like I’m called to act, Mom and Dad.” And they were during a time of recession. So they said, “You know what? We might as well – we both lost our jobs, we might as well do it. He’s the only one with a leading from God.” And they moved out with their nine-year-old son.
Well, by the time he was 11, he started to get more and more roles. He had had a dream of being on being a Disney channel show or a Nickelodeon show. And he felt like he could really be a light there. And one day he got an audition for one of those major networks and he was so excited about it. His mom had this inkling and she said, “You know what, can you pray and ask God why he’s called you to be an actor?” And he said, “Well, Mom, I’m supposed to be a light. I’m supposed to be a city on a hill.” She said, “No, I know those Scriptures. Those are great prophetic points, but can you pray and ask God? I just feel like He wants to show you something.”
And he went into his room and was gone for several hours. And when he came back, he said, “Mom, Mom, I’m so in love with the actors and the directors and the producers, the grips, the makeup artists – I never loved them before. I’m so in love with them. They’re my destiny. They’re who I’m called to. Everything else, the acting was just my calling. I didn’t understand that my calling I was substituting to be my destiny. But I’m so in love. Now I have to do this for them. I have to do this for the sake of Jesus getting His reward here.”
Well, the next day they were at an audition and it happened to be a boy that always competed with my friend. And this particular audition was the biggest one of his life. And this kid always won if it was between the two of them, but he happened to be sick. So his mom said, “Honey, you have a chance. He’s sick. This is going to work out great.” He said, “Mom, I have to go pray for him.” And he’s not the kind of kid who’s ever prayed for healing for someone. But he said, “I have to pray for him.” She’s like, “Honey, if you bring God into this, they might kick us out of here. This might be a big deal.” And he said, “Mom, I have to do it.”
So he walked over as an 11-year-old to the other 11- or 12-year-old and said, “Hey, can I pray for you? I’m a Christian. I just feel like God doesn’t want you to be sick right now. And I want to pray that He helps you in your audition.” He was like, “Yeah, sure.” And the kid’s mom was fine with it. And they prayed for him. It just felt so good. He comes back over and his mom’s so proud of him. Then all of a sudden the casting director comes in and asks this other boy who’s the competitor to go in and do the audition. And the casting director comes back out 15 minutes later and says, “We found our boy. We don’t need any other auditions. So sorry you guys, good luck next time.” So my little friend, his mom looks at him and says, “Honey, how do you feel? You didn’t get the role. You didn’t even get to do the audition.” He said, “Mom, I fulfilled my destiny.”
Many times we put our calling in the way of our destiny and we highlight our calling, but that’s the thing we get to do to reach the people we get to love. And Jesus always had a joy set before him. Hebrews 12:2 says He endured the cross because He had us set before Him, His joy. Who’s the joy set before you?
I want to pray for you right now. God, would You show us who we’re doing our calling for? Who are the people we get to love? And I pray right now that everybody who’s watching, that You would show us our people. Show us who we get to love. Let us partner our heart to Your great love so that we’ll do anything for the joy set before us, in Jesus’ name.